diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
index 5303e9a91b6f..215586b32f09 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ pub struct Build {
     cxx: HashMap<TargetSelection, cc::Tool>,
     ar: HashMap<TargetSelection, PathBuf>,
     ranlib: HashMap<TargetSelection, PathBuf>,
+    wasi_sdk_path: Option<PathBuf>,
+
     // Miscellaneous
     // allow bidirectional lookups: both name -> path and path -> name
     crates: HashMap<String, Crate>,
@@ -468,6 +470,7 @@ impl Build {
             cxx: HashMap::new(),
             ar: HashMap::new(),
             ranlib: HashMap::new(),
+            wasi_sdk_path: env::var_os("WASI_SDK_PATH").map(PathBuf::from),
             crates: HashMap::new(),
             crate_paths: HashMap::new(),
             is_sudo,
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect.rs
index 2af30c16f8fd..dcafeb80f90c 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect.rs
@@ -221,7 +221,10 @@ fn default_compiler(
         }
 
         t if t.contains("-wasi") => {
-            let root = PathBuf::from(std::env::var_os("WASI_SDK_PATH")?);
+            let root = build
+                .wasi_sdk_path
+                .as_ref()
+                .expect("WASI_SDK_PATH mut be configured for a -wasi target");
             let compiler = match compiler {
                 Language::C => format!("{t}-clang"),
                 Language::CPlusPlus => format!("{t}-clang++"),
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect/tests.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect/tests.rs
index 9ddf91fcc858..bed03c18aaad 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect/tests.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/cc_detect/tests.rs
@@ -77,11 +77,11 @@ fn test_new_cc_build() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_default_compiler_wasi() {
-    let build = Build::new(Config { ..Config::parse(Flags::parse(&["build".to_owned()])) });
+    let mut build = Build::new(Config { ..Config::parse(Flags::parse(&["build".to_owned()])) });
     let target = TargetSelection::from_user("wasm32-wasi");
     let wasi_sdk = PathBuf::from("/wasi-sdk");
-    // SAFETY: bootstrap tests run on a single thread
-    unsafe { env::set_var("WASI_SDK_PATH", &wasi_sdk) };
+    build.wasi_sdk_path = Some(wasi_sdk.clone());
+
     let mut cfg = cc::Build::new();
     if let Some(result) = default_compiler(&mut cfg, Language::C, target.clone(), &build) {
         let expected = {
@@ -94,10 +94,6 @@ fn test_default_compiler_wasi() {
             "default_compiler should return a compiler path for wasi target when WASI_SDK_PATH is set"
         );
     }
-    // SAFETY: bootstrap tests run on a single thread
-    unsafe {
-        env::remove_var("WASI_SDK_PATH");
-    }
 }
 
 #[test]